Discovery, Orbit and Physical Properties
It was discovered on November 11, 2002 at Lowell Observatory. As of November 2012, 2002 VE68 has been observed 457 times with a data-arc span of 2,947 days; therefore, its orbit is very well determined. Its semi-major axis (0.7237 AU) is very similar to that of Venus but its eccentricity is rather large (0.4104) and its orbital inclination is also significant (9.0059°). The spectrum of 2002 VE68 implies that it is an X-type asteroid and hence an albedo of about 0.25 should be assumed. This combined with an absolute visual magnitude of 20.59 gives a diameter of about 200 m. Its rotational period is 13.5 h and its light curve has an amplitude of 0.9 mag which hints at a very elongated body, perhaps a contact binary.
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